Disclaimer: I don't own, so don't sue.

Cut Scene

It was the final of the tournament, and Taka and Fuji had paired up to play in Doubles 2. The match had been going on for a while now: Fudomine had revealed themselves to be pretty good; in fact, good enough that Fuji had to reveal the first of the triple counters, Tsubame Gaeshi.

He should have known the black-clad players wouldn't leave it at that.

Ishida, the one with the white bandana, looked over at his captain.

Tachibana frowned. He had to know, just like everyone else, that the next point would be decisive, and yet, he seemed reluctant to let him do whatever it was the other player was keeping on his sleeve. This couldn't be good.

Suddenly, Tachibana took a decision, and made a sign to his teammates.

"Go Ishida!" yelled one of the Fudomine players, as the one on the courts took on a peculiar stance, ready to hit the ball.

"Hadoukyuu!" cheered another one.

Fuji took a firmer grip on his racquet, ready to counter whatever was coming his way. The next point would be the decisive point of the match, and if he had to reveal all of his counters to get it, then so be it.

However, he wasn't ready for what would be coming next.

Ishida's arm musculature seemed to enlarge dramatically as he hit the ball with all he had got and then some, yelling like he was giving birth for the first time. The ball took on some flashy lightening special effects as it got hit, and then, it was coming towards him.

"I can't let them get this one" thought Fuji with determination, squashing somewhere in his sub-conscience the logical fear anyone would feel when faced against such a force of nature. He opened his eyes, though, thinking with collected irrationality that maybe he would be able to stop it with the force of his glare only.

No, he wasn't thinking straight, but fuck, have you seen the Hadoukyuu??

"Don't do it Fuji!" yelled Oishi somewhere in the distance "Your wrist can't handle it!"

"Not helping, Oishi." scolded Fuji mentally. They would get this point.

He looked at the ball, getting ready to hit it back.

"I'm striking you with all I've got" he, thought, looking at the coming ball with defiance "And it Will. Be. Enough!!"

"FUJI!"

Suddenly, Taka was in front of him, the rest of the court be damned, taking the Hadoukyuu for him. And just as suddenly, three enormous waves of relief, worry and eternal devotion came crashing over him.

"Taka-san!"

He knew he just sounded like a damsel in distress calling on his knight in shining armor, but to hell with it. He felt like one.

Looking back, it was a good thing that Ishida's racquet got broken and they had to stop the match, because in the state of mind he was in after that incident, he was sure he wouldn't have moved even if the ball was to come back straight to his face.

He had been scared. That thing the Fudomine player had pulled off… it was brutal. He was relieved he didn't have to take it in the end, but he was even more concerned about the fact that Taka had. He felt guilty of his slight elation for Taka jumping in to save him that way, even though his worry was greater, and he was angry that the idiot would put himself at such risk in the first place (as stated previously: fuck! Have you seen the Hadoukyuu??). He was livid, and just a little bit faint when he thought about the ball that had been coming to him. He was surprised, confused, joyful, bitchy, he wanted to punch Taka with all he had, or maybe snog the daylights out of him, he wasn't sure.

Of course, he knew he was in love with Taka-san long before this (why else would he insist on playing doubles with him when he was a natural singles player?), but right now… He didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. It was overwhelming.

He didn't know how to react.

"Jump on the back of his white horse and ride together to Happy Ever After Land?" helpfully offered a stray neuron.

He felt Eiji's gaze on him and he looked up to his best friend. By the twinkle in his eyes, he knew the red-head had caught on this last thought.

"Don't laugh!" he tried to convey with a smile "I'd like to see you in the same situation!"

Gods, but he felt so mushy inside…

He must have been really off balance, because rather than blushing (which was what he'd intended to happen), Eiji only smiled wider, clearly enjoying his little lovesick momentum.

Horio's irritating voice brought him back to reality.

"Kawamura-senpai" he yelled "Take the last game with your Burning Serve!"

"Imbecile" thought Fuji to the Freshman "There's no way Taka is in condition to keep playing!"

He was about to turn around and convey him his thoughts in a calm, collected, and oh so cool manner when Taka-san's answer reached his ears.

"Don't worry!" he said, sounding all proud and confident "I've got it covered!"

Fuji added another mid-spin to his turning, facing his teammate rather than the annoying first year, and walked towards him in three well placed steps, mustering his best 'I'm Dead Serious About This So Don't Mess With Me' expression.

"This match is over, darling"

Of course, Taka saw him approaching and had to try and fool him, so he said, in the best innocent voice he could pull while in Burning Mode, "What's wrong, Fujiko-chaaan?"

"Baka Takashi!" thought the tensai "Which part of 'I'm Dead Serious About This So Don't Mess With Me' didn't you get?"

Then he unapologetically grabbed his wrist.

He would have let go sooner, too, but unfortunately for Taka-san his brain had just caught on the power player's words, so while his partner screamed himself hoarse he just stood there, thinking:

"Did you just call me Fujiko-chan?"

He had to thank the gods for his control over his facial expressions, otherwise, he was sure he would have blushed. As it was, he was able to keep the perfect poker face and look like he was actually paying attention to the scene he was taking part on.

"You called me Fujiko-chan"

Pretty one-tracked mind, huh?

Momo's gasp somewhere in the vicinity reminded him of where he was, and he lightened a bit his grip on Taka's wrist, because it wouldn't do for him to put his one true love through such a pain, but making sure it was unnoticeable to the others, least they thought he was going soft. He was fond of his sadist image.

He probably should say something, by the way. He'd stood there looking expressionless for a while, and Taka was starting to look a bit nervous.

"You took it for me" he finally said.

He tried is best to keep his expression neutral, he really did, but in the end he couldn't help his eyebrow trembling just the slightest bit. Still, even for him this was quite a feat, considering his current train of thought.

"You took it for me. Baka Takashi, you took it for me. I love you. You called me Fujiko-chan. I love you. I love you. You took it for me. You saved me. (Insert gruesome image of Fuji's arm being teared out of his body). You took it for me. I love you. Idiot."

See? It was quite a feat!

Then Taka looked sheepish.

And just like that, Fuji couldn't hold it inside anymore, because Taka was so cute and he looked about ready to tell him it was no big deal, but it was, and Fuji felt like he would burst of loving, and his heart had been trying to put a hole in his chest for the last fifteen minutes, so he stood on his tiptoes and clashed their mouths together.

And god did it feel good.

You might think Taka stood there for a moment, blinking, before he gave in and they proceeded to share the sweetest kiss ever, but if you do, you are forgetting Taka was currently holding a racquet and being kissed by Fuji, which is as good as saying Double Burning Mode. So, he did stand still for a second, then he pulled away from the kiss and yelled to the skies, in his not so perfect English…

"PASSIOOOON!!"

…before leaning back to the tensai, clearly intending to have the hottest make-out session in the history of tennis.

"Seigaku!!" called out the alarmed referee (who was by then thinking to switch to badminton) "Please stop… uh… return to the match?"

Of course, the only thing that reached Fuji's mind was 'match' (Taka was too far gone in Burning Mode to even think about tennis anymore), but that was enough to calm him down. A bit. Because he felt like grinning like an idiot right now, and Taka was kissing him, and it felt so good…

"Seigaku!!"

Mmmh… This was waaaay better than fantasies… Taka was holding him so close he felt like they would melt together, and it was so hot, and who would have thought Taka had such a wicked tongue…

"We can see your tongues!!"

That was Momo.

Mood killer.

"Seigaku, please…" begged the referee "Return to the match…"

On the periphery of his vision, Fuji could see Eiji laughing his arse off while covering Echizen's eyes. He'd never seen Oishi blush so much, either.

"The match?" tried again the referee.

"Right. The match" thought Fuji, doing an effort to focus on the matter at hand.

He planted a peck on Taka's lips before landing back to reality, though, just because he could. Then he did it again, because, YAY! He could!

"Referee" he finally announced, mustering the most serious face he could pull "We will forfeit this match."

"Eh??" said Taka, alarmed.

The referee too, sent him a reproachful look, probably thinking after all they'd put him through the least they could do was to keep on playing.

"Someone!" they heard Inui order the Freshman Trio "Go get cold spray!"

"What are you saying?" protested the power player "I can still perform! You know as well as I do how much the first game means to us!"

Fuji couldn't help it, he had to smile. Trust Taka to obsess over tennis when they had just made out in the middle of the court… He almost sighed (almost).

"It's going to be alright" he said instead, pointing at their fellow teammates "See?"

Taka did sigh then, dropping on his knees as soon as Fuji took the racquet from him.

"Sorry guys…"

Five minutes later…

"Alright, Taka-san" said Fuji, smiling tenderly "Let's tend to that arm of yours, ne?"

Of course, as soon as he touched his boyfriend's arm (yay! boyfriend!) a flaming background erupted around them and Taka turned to face him saying "Oh, baby…"

"No way!" interrupted them Inui, appearing out of nowhere and batting Fuji's hand again, effectively cancelling the Burning Mode "I want at least ten steps between the two of you!"

The new couple stared in shock at their manager. Why was he…?

"Sorry guys, but they're bad enough as it is." calmly explained Inui, gesturing towards the tennis court.

They needn't ask what he meant, though, because at that very moment Eiji jumped to hit an unreachable ball, shouting, "Hoi-hoi! Great-o kissingue!"

"Eiji!" called out Oishi embarrassedly.

"That was a light one" commented Inui from the sidelines.

And that, my friends, is the real reason the Golden Pair's match against Fudomine is barely shown in the series. After all, it wouldn't do for them to show how Seigaku won their match partly because one of their players kept on shouting those few scattered words he had retained from the English vocabulary and the Fudomine pair was ever so distracted by it. They had to censor most of the crowd's reactions, too, because every time the referee said 'love' they giggled like little girls.

"Alright-o! Sex on the beach!"

"What is that supposed to mean!?" screamed the Fudomine player, missing yet another ball (not that he would have reached it anyway).

"Okay, Inui" said Fuji, turning to the manager with a pleasant smile "I won't get Taka burning again"

"And you will keep your distance?" insisted the other boy

"No" said Fuji, still smiling. "I'm staying with my boyfriend"

"Eto… Fuji…" said Taka, blushing profusely as the crowd erupted in catcalls.

"Minna! The match is this way!" reminded them Tezuka.

"Hai! Buchou!" obediently answered the crowd.

"Fuji! Twenty laps!" ordered the captain.

"Hai…" said Fuji, starting to run with a smile on his face.

Taka just stood there for a moment, watching him go, and muttered, still blushing, "Bo… boyfriend?"

Then, he smiled, and it was such a sweet, shy, happy smile that Inui had to roll his eyes at him. Even if no-one could see it, because of those thick glasses of his.

"Burning, indeed" he said, grabbing Taka's arm and the cold spray "Come on, let's tend to that wrist"

AN: well... this was longer than I inteded it to be. I'm not sure if I like it or not, either. But. This had to be posted. I'm on a personal crusade to bring more Taka/Fuji to the site (you're welcomed to join, too)

So, thank you for reading, and let me know if you liked it!